Twenty Parika farmers will be given 30,000 bull-nose pepper plants under a government/United States Agency for International Development (USAID) non-traditional agricultural diversification project.
The donation is part of the first phase of the project done through a collaboration of several agencies including the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI), the Poor Rural Communities Support Services Project (PRCSSP), the New Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC), the USAID and the Guyana Trade and Investment Support (GTIS) a press release said.
The GTIS said the pepper project is part of a market-led strategy – a new approach to the export of non-traditional agriculture products from Guyana – being pursued by the ministry. The Agricultural Diversification Strategy uses a cluster approach to develop export products in a way that strengthens the export chain and encourages an efficient business and investment environment. The release said Region Three was selected because “it is easier to work out logistics, such as transportation and technical services, for both the buyers and growers.”
For this first phase of the project NARI produced the seeds and gave the seedlings to Forbes Garrel, the owner of a nursery, for germination and growth. About 30,000 plants are available for the farmers who are expected to cultivate one acre each. In the coming months, the project will continue to grow as each farmer adds more plants and two additional acres for cultivation. The GTIS said in three months “it is expected that there will be sixty acres and 100,000 pepper plants under continuous production.”
The GTIS said the goal is to add two more phases in a year’s time; increasing the number of farmers and acres, and tripling the total number of acres under continuous production to 180. The release said 180 acres should produce 30, 000 pounds of export quality peppers to be shipped every week. When the project reaches full capacity the country is expected to export about 1.5 million pounds per year, with an estimated annual value of US$750,000. The GTIS said the projected numbers only represent pepper that meets export standards and there will also be more than one million pounds of secondary peppers that can be used for processing. The project is currently trying to identify processors that can create value-added products from the non-export quality peppers.
The plants will be handed over to the Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Berbice) farmers on Monday at the Faith Baptist Church, Parika back. Plants will also be planted on a farm adjacent to church, which belongs to Moaaz Amin. NGMC General Manager Nizam Hassan is expected to chair the ceremony while agriculture minister Robert Persaud, US Ambassador David M Robinson, USAID Mission Director Dr Fenton Sands, NARI Director Dr Oudho Homenauth, PRCSSP Project Manager Sasenarine Singh, Region Three Chairman Julius Faerber, USAID/GTIS representatives and area farmers are expected to attend.
